


Savior Steel

by oct31stsage



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Zombies, Bodyguard Rick, CEO Negan, M/M, Near Death Experiences, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2018-09-28
Packaged: 2019-07-15 21:43:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16071923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oct31stsage/pseuds/oct31stsage
Summary: After a near death experience, the CEO of Savior Steel is assigned a bodyguard by his assistant.





	1. The shot heard around the world...of steel

**Author's Note:**

> So I love Regan, but as I look through the stories I see that the pairing is woefully underserviced. That brings me to this; I'm not a writer but, this is me showing that if you love this pairing and you have an idea for a story, just write it. Get the ideas on paper on the off chance that someone will enjoy it as much as you. Any constructive criticism is welcome and if someone thinks I could use some peer editing, just reach out. As I said before, I'm not a writer so any help would be welcomed and appreciated. 
> 
> Thanks and I hope you enjoy this chapter, it will be the first of many. Oh and I don't own the characters or The Walking Dead.

"Ugh..." Negan groaned, opening one eye slightly only to be assaulted a strip of light bleeding through the hotel window shades.

 

 

Once again it was time for the NASCC: Steel Conference and Negan hated it. He had made a name for himself in the last few years since he had taken over his family’s steel mill operation and with that notoriety came requests for information on how to be successful. 

 

\--------------------------------------

 

1 month earlier

 

“What a stupid fucking request!” Negan yelled to his assistant, Arat, as she sent an email confirming their attendance with a line stating that Negan was very excited about the opportunity to speak. “Now I have to fly out to Baltimore, dress up, watch my fucking language and pretend like I’m going to tell them my methods for success. Who gives their competition tips for fucking beating them?!” He yells in his office. 

 

\----------------------------------------

 

So that’s how he ended up here away from his home and bevy of women, hungover, irritated, fuzzy headed and thirsty. The hangover was a bitch. He felt the pounding in his head, thumping along with his heartbeat. Negan glanced to the side to see a redhead sleeping soundly next to him. She was covered all the way up to her shoulders, her pale neck a stark contrast to the black sheets. 

 

"When did I pick this one up? I remember the blonde at the bar....oh wait, thaaaaaaaaaats right." Details of the night before started slowly coming back to him. 

 

Since Negan knew nobody in Baltimore and he had given Arat the night off to explore, he decided that he wasn't going to stay cooped in the admittedly nice Hotel room and ran into a pretty little blonde named Amber at the first dive bar he came across. She was all small smiles and bedroom eyes. They had...drinks, no clue how many, he can't even remember how many bars they went to. Then entered the redhead whose name he cannot remember for the life of him. Maybe Frannie? She was a wildfire, inserted herself into their night and kept dropping hints that she would be more than open to a threesome. Amber was less than thrilled that Negan wasn’t rebuffing the advances of....F name lady and made a quick exit. After that it's a blur of alcohol, kissing and fucking. 

 

"Looks like I still have it. Shame I can't remember any of it." He sits up slowly, fighting off the dizzy spell and stretching. He feels a small burn on his back, he reaches behind himself and runs his fingers along the scratches left by the wildcat in human form. He briefly wonders if she would be up for another round. 

 

He glances at the alarm clock blaring an angry red 10:35 at him and the time sent a jolt of electricty through him. 

 

"Fuck, Fuck, Fuck!" He yells to the wall, startling the woman next to him. He leaps out of bed looking at her, the questioning gaze obvious on her face. 

 

"Sorry doll, I have to get hustling. Normally I'd get you breakfast or at least get a morning fuck out of you before I never call but I'm about to be very late. Just let yourself out." He yells as he sorts through his suitcase, pulling out everything he needs. 

 

The woman has a look that's a mix of anger and confusion but Negan never spares her another glance. He runs into the bathroom, it's a spacious room with white granite countertops, two sinks and large shower big enough for four people. He briefly wonders if he should say 'fuck it' to being on time and try to make nice with...Florence? And really test out that shower. 

 

He shakes his head, and throws down his various selfcare items. "Arat will kill me if I'm not out there by 11. Then she will bring me back to life and kill me again when she finds out why I'm late." He lets out a small laugh as he brushes his teeth. His assistant has always been a demon of a woman, but he has no clue where he would be without her. 

 

He jumps in the shower and scrubs himself down quickly, making sure to hit all the really important places. Any other day he'd take his time scrubbing down his hairy chest that he keeps trimmed. He's noticed lately that some of the hair has started to turn white in his age but he knows he still looks damn good. Lean muscle and good bone structre has made it where he can spend nights with a partner more often than not. He even has a little group of girls in his phone that he calls his "wives" because any time he needs to get laid they are always more than willing to comply. 

 

He came back to reality for what felt like the millionth time that morning. He darted out of the shower and put on his suit as quickly as he could. Taking a moment to look in the mirror and fix his collar he considers himself briefly. His hair is slicked back perfectly, he runs a hand along his jaw feeling the stubble.

 

"You handsome motherfucker." He thinks to himself.

 

He had a black suit that was custom cut so it hugged his body perfectly. It was black with a white shirt and black tie. All completed with a gold tie clip. 

 

He moved to the beside table, quickly glancing at the now empty space that the redhead had recently vacated and grabs his phone, wallet and room key. He opened his wallet to put the room key in and noticed that the 300 dollars he pulled out the day before was mysteriously missing. The redhead seemed to have departed long ago. 

 

"What a bitch." he thinks to himself coming to the realization that she must have taken the money when she was less than happy with his treatment of her this morning. 

 

Resigning himself to the loss of cash he glances at the clock. 10:55 and rushes to the door. Just as he opens it he sees Arat on the other side. Being the angel that she is she is holding out a bottle of water and a small foil pack of aspirin. He grabs for them, immediately grumbling out a quick thanks as he tears open the package to toss the pills into his mouth. Arat has already begun Typing away on her phone and scrolling through his calendar for the day. She looks up for a brief moment, rolls her eyes and begins walking to the elevators in double time. The hallways were easily 5 people wide with recesses in them, each with a large black door. At this time in the morning no one seemed to be up here. Most of the current residents were here for the convention that had begun hours ago. Negan had no doubt that Arat had already been down there, browsing the booths and conversing with other large company's employees.

 

"Aw, come on Arat, I'm not late. You know I'd never disappoint my number one gal." He says with a wink. 

"Save the charm for straight girls, and you may not be late right now but if I let you move at your snail ass pace then you definitely will be. When a boss is late, it makes the assistant look bad." She says in a clipped tone. 

 

They reach the elevators and as soon as they push the button the doors slide open in a moment of serendipity. They enter the elevator and Negan leans against the mirrored back. Arat standing next to him, typing away.

 

"Now, now, Arat, is that how you should be speaking to your boss?" He asks, slightly agitated due to his hangover. 

 

She stands quietly, not bothered by the use of authority because she knows that when he's hungover and cranky he gets like this. He tends to make it up with an afternoon off or some other act of penance out of fear that she would leave.

 

The pair walk briskly toward the convention center area and see the large NASCC banner. 

 

“Getting close.” Negan says. 

 

"Hall E, 2 minutes." Arat says, doing her best to keep up with Negans longer stride. 

 

Just as they approach the door they hear the person at the front of the exhibition hall say "...And now one of the rising stars of the steel industry....Negan!" 

 

Negan trots up to the front of the hall, large wolfish smile plastered to his face as he takes the microphone from the MC.

 

The room is large, the standard beige walls and multicolored carpet. Standard convention center decor. Chairs have been brought out and lined up to form long rows. He looks out to the crowd, easily hundreds of people, dressed in their best business attire. He would never let it show but he hates them all. Executives who sit in their offices and have no idea how the business actually runs. The key to his success is easy, if they are short handed he gets down there and does the work himself. When people know you are willing to do what you need to they try their best to make it so you never have to. 

 

He knows that even if he tells these slugs all of that, it wouldn't change a thing. They would scoff at him and then climb into their sports cars with their 4th wives and drive off. 

"Hey there everyone and thanks for coming to my segment." He begins, oozing charm and false friendliness. "Not long ago, I took over control of my family steel mill. Savior Steel has been in operation for longer than anyone has been alive."

Through my method of active management and the hard work of my people, we have opened 3 new mills in the last 5 years alone. In my company, we have a saying. "We are all Negan." That means that despite where you come from or who you are in my company, I care about you like I care about myself. I use less people, more overtime, better benefits and Quality over Quantity when it comes to the steel we produce."

 

"Oh yeah?!" Negan hears yelled from the back of the meeting room. 

 

The man who yelled stands up and starts walking toward the front. As the man gets closer, Negans eyes narrow with realization. 

"You care about your employees so much?! Then how come I was just let go without so much as a conversation?!" There was a noticeable slur to the mans voice. "What is this guy even doing here?" Negan thinks

 

"Ladies and Gentlemen." Negan pauses. "This is David. Preciously a long term employee of mine. This asshole will be the perfect example."

 

When he cursed he heard a few people muttering to their neighbors.

 

"You see David here was a walking hazard. He resulted in a fuckton of lost profits. He even had the balls to show up to work drunk a couple times." Every time he cursed he could feel Arat's eyes burning into him. She hated when he let the swears fly in public settings. It never resulted in good press and she had to deal with the calls and requests for quotes. 

 

 

"Any of that is enough fucking reason to fire someone." By now the crowd were all murmuring. Negan didn’t even know if anyone was really listening anymore. "Then one day we get a call notifying us that an employee of ours has been picked up on sexual assault charges." By now the murmuring has become a dull roar and David face is turning bright red with anger. "Then surprise surprise, it turns out to be David. Now I give my employees a lot of slack but attempted rape is something that I just do not let slide. So union be damned, I just fired him. Luckily the union loves me so they supported me and now this fucker is trying to make me seem like the bad guy." 

 

As Negan finishes his sentence he looks to David with an even bigger grin, every tooth showing. By this point police on duty at the event were walking toward David. 

 

That was when Negan saw it, David reached behind his back and alarm bells went off in Negan's head. The hall went from people gossiping to people panicking and clamoring for exits as David raised the gun, it wasn’t notable, just a standard 9 mm, Negan noticed. Somewhere in the noise Negan vaguely heard cops telling David to drop the weapon. Negan looked his soon to be attacker right in the eyes, if David was going to shoot him in this vulnerable position he wanted the hatred in his eyes to be forever burned into David’s memory. 

 

"I hope every time this fucker closes his eyes, he sees me in the darkness, coming for him." Negan thought. 

 

Then he heard the shot, followed by a searing pain, then more shots before he finally passed out from the shock and pain. 

His final thoughts were of Lucielle and how he'd see her soon. 

 

\-------------------------- 

 

Negan slowly opened his eyes. "What a weird fucking dream" he muses to himself as he tries to sit up. As soon as he begins his ascent he is met with white hot pain exploding from his shoulder. He immediately falls back and grips the injured part. Looking up he sees the plain white ceiling and hears the beeping of a heart monitor. 

 

“Hospital….” He thinks. 

 

He feels someone rush to his side and attempts to open his eyes again. He surveys his surroundings and sees that he is in a private hospital room, complete with comfy looking chairs across from the bed, a fairly large tv and a few things for people who stay with the patients, dressers and a little rollaway bed. 

 

"Arat?" He asks in a raspy voice. Suddenly realizing how dry his throat is. She brings a cup of water with a straw into view for him. "Drink slowly." She says. He sips from the straw reveling in the feeling as it wets his parched mouth. 

 

"So what happened?" He asks, more collected. 

 

"That asshole David happened. That rapist piece of shit showed up drunk at the convention and tried to shoot you. Thank god the cops were around. You've been in the hospital for 3 days, mostly asleep." She bit out through gritted teeth. 

 

"Mostly? I don't remember anything after the shot." He thinks to himself.

 

Negan had never been so happy for cops to have been around before. "Do me a favor, find out who the cops were and send them something nice. You know how I feel about cops but those ones deserve something good." Negan wondered what happened to David. 

 

"He's dead by the way." Arat offers, as if she was able to read his mind. 

"Good" he thinks. The only response he gives is a subtle noise of acknowledgement. He starts to feel sleepy from the pain medication again. As he starts to nod off he feels Arat pull his blanket up a little further and then brushes a few strands of hair from his forehead. 

 

He vaguely hears something that sounds like "You scared me you idiot." Just as he drifts off to sleep. 

 

He wakes up again, more coherent than before but with a lot more pain in his shoulder. He takes a look down and sees the bandage there with a small spot of red bleeding through. The majority of the bandage covered by the medical gown he is dressed in. In the chair across the room Arat is typing on her laptop fervently. 

 

"Hey beautiful." Hey says with both eyes half open. He presses the button on the bed to put him in a sitting position. 

 

"That's technically sexual harassment." She says unimpressed without looking up from the laptop. 

"So what position are we in?" He asks, trying to focus on the business. 

 

"Well stocks took a hit, a big one, but we have been keeping your condition under wraps so the media is speculating everything from you were never shot to you're already dead but we are hiding it. You've gone viral, last time I saw it was 85 million views. The longest one starts with you talking about him being a rapist and cuts off with the panic starting. Literally everyone wants an interview. Even a high school newspaper asked. Even the news outlets saying you are already dead. We won't interview with those, they'll most likely say that the dead are walking." She says standing up. "Don't worry about any of that though, right now you need your rest." She begins packing up her laptop and other work related things she has strewn about. 

 

"Where the fuck do you think you're going?" He asks throwing on the bitchiest face he can with the current circumstances. 

 

"Well I've been here for 84 hours watching you sleep, none of that is including the surgery time, and now that you are up and aware I know you're going to harass me with work questions that I don't want you to worry about right now. So I'm going to be gone for 12 hours. Turn your morphine drip up, go back to sleep and we will get you out of here in a few days. Oh and before I forget, one of the cops you wanted me to find a gift for has a sick kid. I made a donation on behalf of Savior Steel, the other was a little tougher. I just got an all expenses paid trip for him and his wife." Negan realized that she must be more impacted by this than he first though. She was normally pretty few with words but he's getting multiple sentences out of her. He nods quickly and she takes her leave. Negan hears her talking to someone on the other side, their voices are muddled through the door but he can tell that the owner of the second voice is a man. 

 

 

"Sounds pretty hot." he thinks as he drifts back off to sleep. Just as he closes his eyes he hears the door open and close again, followed by footsteps. He tries to open his eyes to see who is entering his room but the morphine is doing its job and he falls asleep sitting up despite his best efforts.

 

\---------------------------- 

When he wakes up again it's nighttime. The room is completely dark with the excetption of light coming from the machines he is attached to. He's disoriented and back in a laying down position. As everything comes back into focus and his mind clears, he briefly wonders if the person he heard walking in had put him back down. 

 

He tries to sit up himself because he's stubborn and decides he's sick of being in the hospital. He is going to get out of here as fast as possible and the first step to that is being able to sit up by himself without yelling. He sits up successfully but cant stop the groan of pain that escapes his throat when he put weight on the injured part of his body. 

 

He hears the door click and sees light flood the room. He winces at the sudden change in lighting, covering his eyes.

 

"Jesus fucking christ, can you warn a guy first?!" He yells at the intruder, assuming that it's Arat. 

 

"Oh sorry, sorry." He hears an unfamiliar female voice. He cracks an eye open to see a girl in an all black outfit, black suit, black shirt, black tie. She had dark brown hair and eyes that didnt hide a thing, he could see the concern in them as she stepped toward him. "Is there anything I can help you with?" She asks, keeping space between them like he was a wild animal. Thinking about it though he does realize that his first interaction with her was him yelling. 

 

"Who the fuck are you?" He asks, no heat behind his words. Just genuine curiosity and an inability to not curse. 

"I'm Tara." She says slowly. He can't tell if she's trying to be gentle, thinking he's so medicated that she needs to go slow or is concerned about how he will react. When she finishes the next sentence, he knows it's the latter. "I'm a bodyguard that works for Alexandria Security. We have been hired to-"

 

That is when he cuts her off. "LIKE HELL!" He yells and she instantly goes quiet. Not flinching at his volume, just attaching a more passive look to her face. "Who authorized this?!" He asks more quietly but still sternly, realizing this girl is just doing her job and has no accountability for him being assigned a babysitter. 

 

"Your assistant, Arat." 

 

"Of fucking course this has Arat's fingerprints all over it." Negan thinks to himself. "She would love to have someone on my ass 24/7, watching me like a hawk and preventing me from having any fun." He says while the girl stands there staring at him. 

 

"Great, I'll have a talk with her. For now though, I'm excusing you. Savior Steel no longer needs your services." He tries to say as professionally as he can, like he hadn't just been cursing at the girl. 

 

"Yeeeeeeah." she says "See, its not really gonna work like that." He looks at her face and she has a no nonsense look. Equal parts care and control. "Arat said you would react this way. She said that this may happen but under no circumstances are we to leave unless she says so. You are to have one guard on you at all times and she paid extra so ensure that our top 3 people rotate 12 hour shifts." 

 

"You're one of the top 3?" Negan lashes out. He has never been good at not getting what he wants. He tends to just start swinging wild and hoping that whatever he says will get him what he wants. That being said, She doesn't look like much. She isn't tall, seems to be an average weight, doesn't have the eyes of a fighter. He couldn't imagine her being that difficult to take down. She looks more like a nanny than a bodyguard and that just pisses him off more. 

 

The girl, Tara, he remembers, gives him another smile. "Sir, I'm very sorry that you are unhappy with our arrangement. However, if you want to fight with someone, it shouldn't be me. Arat is expecting a call from you for this exact argument. If you need me, please feel free to call me." She says as she exits the room and shuts the door most of the way leaving it open just a crack in case he calls her. 

 

"Like hell I'm calling her." He thinks. 

With the added light to the room he looks to the table beside his bed and sees his phone plugged into his charger. Arat must have set all that up for him. If he weren’t so irritated by the thought of her face right now, he would appreciate how little he has to worry about when she is around.

 

He picks it up and see that he has 52 missed texts, over a thousand emails and about a million other notifications. He also sees that its been 4 days since he came to the hospital. 5 days of him layin in this bed while Arat has to hope he is going to be okay. 

 

As soon as Tara left the room, Negan had every intention of calling Arat and tearing her a new one. The more he thinks about it though, the more he realizes that he needs to hear her out plus it's 3:54am and he would feel like shit later if he woke her up.

 

He shoots her a text with his good right arm, just saying a simple "Call me when you get up."

 

He goes through his phone. Most of the missed texts are from his "wives," the ladies really did miss him. It's a series of "up?" Texts, texts about what they want him to do to them and a few saying they finally heard the news and want to know if he's okay. He ignores them, he likes all his girls but them worrying about his health seems a little too close to something meaningful. He will reach out to them later when his is back home and ready for a roll in the hay. 

 

He starts going through his email but gives up after about 50. Arat will fill him in on what all he has missed. So he pulls a "mark all as read" just to clear out the angry red bubble on his phone. 

 

He doesn’t quite remember when but he falls asleep going through his phone. He wakes up and looks at the device that has since fallen down to the space between the mattress of his bed and the plastic railing. He pulls it out and checks the time. 

 

"9:27?" He asks himself aloud. Arat should be here by now. He calls her and listens to the phone ring. 

 

As its ringing he hears a ringtone coming from the hallway. He can hear people talking and hustling around the hospital but can tell that the ringtone is getting closer and closer. Luckily the bodyguard had left the door cracked open so the sound wasn't as muffled. Just as Arats voicemail picks up, the woman in question toes open the door. Negan is immediately thrilled when he sees that she is carrying a tray of three coffees and what looks like a box of doughnuts from a local shop. She never believed in the big chain places. Then he sees a glimpse of the girl from earlier, standing by the doorway. After Arat enters, Tara reaches in and pulls the door closed, making eye contact with Negan. The end of her shift must be coming soon, the girl looks dead on her feet. 

 

As much as he wanted to be mad at Arat about the bodyguards he just realized how hungry he had been. 

 

When Arat sets down the delights on the rollaway table and pushes it to him, she looks at him with a small smile. He would never get used to seeing things like that from her. He's so used to her stoic expression. 

 

"They have had you on an IV drip for nutrients and to prevent dehydration. You have been asleep so much that the doctor thought it would be better that way." Arat informs him 

 

Negan looks down at his arm and sees that there is a cotton ball held down with medical tape. How did he not wake up when they were pulling needles out of his body? 

 

"I told them that you have been more awake lately so they took it out and I thought we would celebrate with some treats." Arat says opening the box. He tore it open and saw that it was everything he loved. Boston cream, jelly filled, strawberry frosted, and a variety of other. He grabs the jelly filled and crams it in his mouth. 

 

"Thanks." He says through a mouthful of jelly and dough. Once he swallows he quickly follows it with "I don't need bodyguards." 

 

Arats steels herself, he can already see that this isn't going to be easy.


	2. Baby steps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Negan meets Rick and his other bodyguards

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Here is the next chapter! I hope everyone enjoys and I hope your days are going well. I don't have a schedule but I'm hoping for weekly, give or take a day. This chapter is slightly shorter but I didn't want to add anythin unnecessary just to fill out word count.

"I don't need bodyguards." Negan said, doing his best to remain calm. He knew if he started lashing out that Arat would only fight him harder.

Arat physically tenses, steeling herself for the oncoming argument, he can already see that this isn't going to be easy.

Arat remained quiet but walked over to pull a chair up to Negan's bed. She looked at him directly in the eye and did her best to speak calmly.

"Boss, you have to understand, you almost died. We never considered that someone could want you dead and you're weak right now." She said, staring him down. Negan nodded and averted his gaze to the solid brown door.

He didn't like this, at least when Arat was gritting her teeth and seething in anger as she spoke, it was easier to meet that hostility and get his way. She sounded worried and that made his resolve start to slip away.

"This is bullshit." He says. "This was a one time thing, there isn't a plot to get me killed." 

She stands with a sigh and faces the window looking out into the parking lot. "You piss off a lot of people, Boss. You make the hard decisions and that makes people hate you. It's not fair but it's how it is. If it happened once, it can happen again. Until you are better, you need protection. Plus our stock is in the toilet, this will give people some reassurance that you are going to be okay.” 

Negan remained silent.

"I knew you weren't going to be happy about this. So I brought the owner of the company here to talk to you." Arat states. 

As if on cue Negan heard someone on the other side of the door talking to Tara. It was a deep voice with a slight southern accent. Negan had always loved that accent, something about it got his blood flowing. 

When the conversation stopped he heard the door click open and saw it slowly open, as if the offending party was making sure they weren't interrupting a conversation. 

As soon as the door was open enough the man peeked in and Negans eye widened imperceptibly. The man appeared to be a few years younger than Negan, with beautiful brown curls that had been pushed back and stopped partway down his neck. A neatly trimmed beard that had little bits of white spread throughout. The man had clearly taken care of himself. He was dressed in a similar outfit to Tara, all black, while the suit wasn't tailored like his own had been before the shooting, Negan could tell the man had an impressive set of muscles under all the black. It was the eyes that really impacted Negan though. They were ocean blue and seemed to have no end. The man locked eyes with him and Negan had to shift upward to hide the beginnings of his erection under the table. 

The man looked away and slightly nodded at Arat, then back to Negan. He took slow steps up to Negan and reached out a hand, the one that would need Negan's uninjured appendage. 

"You must be Negan." The man says, not even a hint of a smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Rick Grimes, owner of Alexandria Security."

Negan grasped the hand and felt immediate heat spread through his body. He pulled back quickly, before he had a chance to bask in the touch, and attached his most charming smile. 

"Rick Grimes, nice to fucking meet ya!" He says slightly louder than necessary. He saw Rick’s expression shift a bit when he cursed. "I love em with a stick up their ass." He thinks and reduces his wolfish grin to a sinful smirk. Even though he wasn't looking at her, he could feel Arat roll her eyes at his obvious flirting. Rick seemed to miss it completely though. 

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, sir." Rick begins simply. "Our company is stationed out of Virginia, same as Savior Steel, so we will be with you while you travel and for an extended time at your company. Our people will interfere with you as minimally as possible. Our job is not to police you or the people you associate with. Our job will be to make sure that no matter where you go, no matter what you do, you have a capable protector at the ready." 

"Okay, Rick Fucking Grimes.” Negan says, holding the man's gaze, let's get a few things straight.First off, no one calls me sir, except in bed. So unless you're climbing in between these 200 thread count sheets with me, call me Negan. Second, I don't need a capable protector. I AM a capable protector, a fucking asshole with a gun got the jump on me and I got shot. Third, that girl out there doesn't seem like much. From what I hear, Arat is paying extra for your top 3 and the best you can do is a girl fresh off spring break with her sorority sisters?" As Negan spoke he noticed that Rick had began to blush at the first part of his sentence, impressively though the man held firm and didn't let the discomfort show. "Oh yeah, this one is gonna be fun." Negan thinks. 

"Okay, addressing your concerns in order: 1. No, I will not call you Negan. You're a customer so I will call you sir. 2. I can tell you're a big guy and in a fight with Cletus at some hole in the wall bar, you can probably do some damage but in scenarios like this one, I can guarantee that if we had been there you never would have been shot. 3. That girl may not look like much but she did four tours in Iraq, is trained in 3 types of martial arts, and is an expert navigator. She may not be the ideal image of a bodyguard but trust me, she is my number three for a reason and another thing-." Was all Rick got out before Negan interrupted.

"Fucking yeah yeah, I get, she's a badass. Are your number one and two a cyborg and a ninja?" Rick's response to that was to just let out a long sigh. 

"Sir" Negan knew he did that just to annoy him now and it made his blood start to pump. No way this guy wasn't an animal in the sack. "Like it or not we have already been paid for two months of services. This can go smoothly and we can all get along or you can fight us every step of the way and things will be less friendly in the interest of your safety." Was all Rick said before turning and walking out the door. "For a pencil pusher, he's got a nice ass." Negan thinks as the man closes the door behind him. When the door was open, Negan looked to see if Tara was still there or if a new guard had come but saw that the spot was empty. It perplexed him slightly but he figured she had gone to the bathroom or something. 

"I like that one, Arat." He says still staring at the door. 

Her only response was a non-commital grunt as she began tapping away on her phone. He knew she saw his obvious attempts at flirting but must have decided to ignore it since his advances were flat out ignored. 

Negan sighs and relaxes back into the bed. Suddenly tired from the conversation and meeting the handsome bodyguard. "How much longer do I have to be here?" He asks, closing his eyes.

"The doctor said another week to keep an eye on the wound. He said in 3 weeks you should be back to full function in the arm."

"Okay, well no need for you to stick around Baltimore with the bodyguards. Why don't you go home to Regina. I'm sure Tara and the other two mystery guards will be more than helpful." 

"Two? What are you talking about?" Arat asks sounding annoyed. "Rick is one of the bodyguards, you just met him." 

At that Negan perks up, opening both eyes and looking to the woman who was still typing on her phone. 

"Oh?" He asks, fully invested in the turn in conversation. 

"Yes, he is the owner and operator and before the company became big he was one of the main bodyguards. As they have grown he's become more administrative. After I talked with him though and said I wanted the best he decided to come out." She said plainly. 

"Aw, for little ol' me he came out of retirement? I'll have to make sure to thank him properly." He says with a smirk on his face. "Jeez, a businessman who actually works with his employees? That's someone worth knowing." He closes his eyes and goes to sleep with that thought.

\-------------------------

He wakes in the hospital room but this time he's in a chair next to the bed. He lifts his head and sees his hand wrapped around one that's much more feminine. He looks up and relief floods through him. 

"Luicelle?" He asks

She opens her eye and gives him a small smile. The disease has detroyed her. She is pale, bald sickly skinny and she is still the most beautiful sight he has ever seen. 

"Baby, I had the most terrible dream. You died and..." As he was saying it, he looked down, he knew this was the dream. 

He looked up again and she was gone and the room was empty. He was all alone again, nothing to distract him but his thoughts about all the ways he had failed her. 

\-----------------------

Negan startles up with a gasp. The room is empty but the sun is still out. He looks to the clock and it's only 12:46pm. The door bursts open and Rick comes rushing in. His face scrunched up in confusion and concern.

"Everythin' okay in here, sir?" He asks with his southern drawl, surveying the room and realizing that Negan is truly alone.

"It's Negan and I'm fine." He bites out. Rick nods and turns to leave.

"Wait!" Negan calls out before he realizes it and Rick's hand stills on the doorknob. "Uh, how about you guard my body in here for a bit?" He says, trying to lay on as much charm as he can considering he broke out in a cold sweat from his nightmare.

Rick looks at him for a moment, looking like he’s about to say “no” when takes in the appearance of his new boss. Negan is drenched in sweat and pale. He looks like he has seen a ghost and clearly needs the company, so against his better judgement, he nods and stands silently by the door. 

“Well this is pretty fucking awkward” Negan thinks.

“Anyone ever tell you that you got a pretty fucking mean face, Rick?” He asks

“No sir.” Rick replys

“Well you do. All piss and vinegar. Eyes like yours should be on a much happier face.” He says. 

“Sir, I would appreciate it if you would refrain from comments about my appearance.” Rick says with a slight blush on his face. 

Negan puts his hands up, ignoring the twinge in his shoulder and smiles slightly. “Sorry about that Rick ol’ buddy, didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“Apology accepted.” Is all that Rick gives him back, knowing that the insincere, flippant apology was all he was going to get. 

“You ain’t much for small talk huh?” Negan asks

“Every second I spend talking is a second that I’m distracted from what I have to do, which is keep you safe.” Rick responds. “Plus, if I’m being honest, I’m a little annoyed about this morning. Tara is one of the best and I don’t like your snap judgement about her.” 

“Wow, that stick is really up there.” Negan thinks to himself. 

“Well I wouldn’t want ro be the reason I get shot again. You can go.” Negan says with a wave of his good hand. 

With that Rick exits the room, a little relieved to be away from Negan. The man had a predator's gaze, he looked at you and truly focused on you. It was like being a mouse, knowing a hawk sees you and is coming for you. It was a bit unsettling but the undivided attention also left Rick flushed. Just as he turns to leave the door opens and Arat is on the other side with to go containers. 

Rick nods and gives a polite “Ma’am” as he holds the door open and steps into the hallways. 

“What did you do to that poor man? He’s blushing.” She asks setting the container down in front of him. He opens it to find a bacon cheeseburger and french fries. He was craving this and didn’t even know it. He tore into the fries and briefly told himself to ask Arat what happened to the donuts she brought. 

“Me?” He asks, trying to play innocent. “Why I didn’t do a thing. I can’t help if he is too much of a Southern gentleman. Can’t handle a fucking compliment here and there.” He says, grumbling the last part and taking a bite of the burger

“The man is a professional, Negan. He won’t have sex with you.” she says, staring at him. 

“Mmmmm, I guess we will see. At this point I would just settle for a smile from him.” He says, continuing to eat his food. 

“Just a matter of time” He thinks to himself. 

\--------------

It takes two days but that’s when things start to change. Negan was still in pain but he wasn’t falling asleep every 30 minutes and he had been cleared to walk around the hospital a few times a day. He and Arat would catch up on work. Despite what he had said about her leaving, she just ignored him and stayed around. He never brought it up but he could tell she didn’t want to leave him alone. They would always be accompanied by whichever bodyguard was on duty at the time. Tara would walk behind them, surveying the area, giving input on things like music and alcohol when the opportunity arose. Negan had come to really like her. She had an honesty to her that you didn’t see often in the business world.

They all knew that risk was minimal, there would probably never be another attempt on his life but hiring the guards had done a lot on the business side. It seemed like some assurance that Negan was okay and was going to be okay put a lot of stockholders at ease. 

The third guard he met, Daryl, was a stone wall. Rick at least had an angry expression. Daryl was a statue, the guy never made a face, or a sound. He would walk ahead of them, not saying a thing and surveying every soul that walked by. Negan was equal parts impressed and creeped out by the man’s silent presence. 

It was the walks with Rick that he enjoyed though. It would be Arat on one side and Rick on the other. The man had a small habit that Negan wasn't even sure he was aware of. As soon as they stepped out the doors to the garden area Rick would tip his face up into the sunlight and let it wash over him, smiling slightly at the warmth. Negan would always think the same thing, “That man's smile alone would have stopped David in his tracks.” It filled him with a warmth that he hadn’t felt in years. A warmth that he had tried to simulate with booze and easy women. Rick’s smile was always short lived though, one or two seconds tops before his head leveled out and his glare was set back on. 

Negan cut back on the flirting and the innuendo, he wanted Rick to be comfortable around him, settling for walking alongside the silent man while talking to Arat. He was playing the long game with this one and he would wait as long as he needed to. Pressuring someone was not his thing. 

“So one more day and we are out of here,” Negan says, adjusting the strap of his arm sling. 

“Yes.” says Arat as she pulls up the travel statements. “All 5 of us fly out tomorrow at 3pm. Luckily I was able to get us all business class. We will be sitting 2, 2 and 1. How do you want to split up the seating?” she asks, before Negan has a chance to respond they hear a slight noise from Rick. Both of them look at him confused. 

“If I may ma’am, Tara will be on duty tomorrow at that time. Daryl works tonight so he will be asleep on the flight. You can set him by himself, me with you and Negan with the on duty guard at the time.”  
Negan stamped down the feeling of jealousy that blossomed in his chest when Rick wanted to sit with Arat. “I haven’t been avoiding flirting with him just so he can flirt with Arat. It would be wasted on her anyways.” Negan thought 

One was his employee and the other was his….well he wouldn’t say crush, he would NEVER say crush but sexual encounter prospect, maybe. Either way they should both be fighting over who gets to sit with him. 

“That’s an idea.” Arat begins. “Personally though I would feel better if we put the on duty guard in front of him instead of next to him. So how about Tara and me in front, you and Negan in the middle and Daryl behind.” 

Rick was silent for a moment and just gave a simple “Whatever would make you both the most comfortable.” Negan was looking at the man and swore he saw the beginnings of a blush creep into his cheeks. Now Negan was nearly vibrating with excitement. Maybe this is when he can finally start to break down that sourpuss. Then he looks to Arat and she gives him a knowing look. A look that says, “I expect a gift for this.”

Negan reaches up to adjust the strap on his arm again. “God I can not wait to get this fucking thing off!” he says loudly.

“That’s what she said.” He hears and stops dead in his tracks. He looks to Rick, surprised, shocked and confused. 

“Did you just make a fucking joke?” Negan asks, punctuating the word joke with a small outward thrust of his hips. 

Rick looked a bit surprised himself, almost like he hadn’t meant to say it at all. The man tried his best to remain stoic but the beginnings of a smile was tugging at his cheek. 

“Why Rick Grimes, I had no clue there was a dirty sense of humor under all that sour face. It’s so hard to find someone that’s good looking AND funny.” Negan said, pressing his luck. Rick just stared forward and kept walking. 

Despite Ricks refusal to look at him or acknowledge the slip in professionalism Negan had a shit eating grin that would last for the rest of the walk. “Well that’s a start.” He thinks as they continue to walk. 

As they walk into the hospital, Arat announces that she is going to the cafeteria and grab some drinks. As she leaves she gives Negan a warning look that he has seen many times. 

He and Rick walked along silently to the elevators. “So Tara has been going on these walks with us. That girl is a firecracker. I see her looking at everyone. You weren’t kidding when you said she was a fucking beast.” Negan wanted to get it out in the open. He knew Rick was pissed at him for criticizing the girl without knowing anything about her. It was his version of an apology. He doesn’t do apologies, not even for blue eyed angels like the one next to him. 

As they walked into the elevator Rick looked up at him knowingly, like he understood what Negan was trying to say. 

“Thanks, I appreciate that. She was a diamond in the rough when I found her.” Rick says

As they approach the room they see that Daryl is waiting outside the room. Rick looks down at his watch and makes a surprised noise. “I didn’t even know it was 6 already. I’ll see you around.” It’s then that Ruck turns heel and starts back down the hall. 

As Negan approaches his room the smiles a big smile at Daryl. “Good fucking almost evening to you Daryl.” He says, all he gets back is a grunt. That’s as far as their conversations ever get. 

Negan sits on his bed and smiles a true smile to himself. Rick has never said goodbye to him before. He’s basking in the warmth that the little bit of progress they are making gives him. He swears he will get him into bed yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, there it is. Next chapter is going to be from Rick's POV and pick up from where chapter 2 leaves off. Thanks for reading and I hope you guys decide to post something soon too :)

**Author's Note:**

> Alright! There we go, chapter 1. Working on Chapter two now. Again, constructive criticism, anyone wants to do peer review before I post, please let me know and thank you for reading. Lets build this pairing community together!


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